Though it’s been a few years since the first season, Apple TV+’s Severance has more than proved it’s an Emmy powerhouse this morning by netting a total of 27 Emmy nominations, nearly double the 14 nominations received for its freshman season in 2022.
Adam Scott, who was nominated for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, says the news this morning was really gratifying. “I try to keep myself severed, for lack of a better term, so I try to keep myself in a default position of assuming nothing’s going to happen… and being pleasantly surprised if anything goes in a positive direction,” says Scott. “So, something like this is just pure delight.”
Severance follows a group of workers at Lumon Industries, a biotech company, who have undergone a controversial medical procedure called “severance,” which results in them being split into two personalities with no memories of each other – the “innie” who works at Lumon, and the “outie” who lives the personal life.
Among the nominees, Scott says he’s thrilled to see his co-stars getting recognition as well. “Seeing Britt [Lower] who so richly deserves it, and Tramell [Tillman], Zach [Cherry] and John [Turturro] and Patricia [Arquette]… it just fills me with joy. We all work so hard on the show, so it’s great to see everyone recognized like this.”
Coming in to Season 2, Scott also says the “aperture of the show opened up”, leading to more complex story moments between both sides of his character. “The Innie and the Outie versions of Mark were set on a collision course at the beginning of the season, and it was about really exploring the inner workings of both sides of the character and then culminating in the final episode.”
After working so hard on Severance, as well as having just finished a couple of films, the news this morning for Scott was a welcome delight amidst a hard-earned break. “I was out of town for the first five or six months of the year, so I’m just laying low at home for a few months,” says Scott. “My wife and I have a company, so we’re developing stuff, and I’m not sure exactly what I’m going to do next acting-wise, but I’m just taking it easy and staying in town for a bit.”
